Senate Democrats are discussing a shorter-term measure to keep the government funded after the end of this month, hoping to move quickly to a more permanent spending program and move past the contentious fights that have tied up both chambers of Congress for weeks.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that the discussions centered on a spending bill that would stretch through Nov. 15, instead of through mid-December, the current target date. He said that the rationale was to avoid adopting last year’s budget “over and over,” and to shift to a new budget. Federal agencies have limited flexibility over where to allocate budget dollars, and temporary spending measures tend to lock agencies in to spending plans that may no longer suit their needs.

“If we do this till Dec. 15, Merry Christmas,” Mr. Durbin told reporters. “We’re going to be sitting around here and it will be once again Christmas Eve” and Congress will still be wrangling over the budget.

Democrats will hash out their plans more fully later on Tuesday, when both parties meet behind closed-doors for weekly luncheons.

The discussions come amid signs that Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) isn’t picking up the votes he needs to get the Senate to go along with House Republicans who want to tie the budget to ending funding for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. A number of Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), have come out against Mr. Cruz’s strategy of delaying a vote on the measure sent from the House.

“The Republicans I’ve spoken to were united against the Cruz approach,” Mr. Durbin, who is the chief Democratic vote counter, told reporters. “I don’t know who’s on his side at this point.”

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